New Zealand shares rose in relatively light trading, the positive tone led by high-yielding retailer Pumpkin Patch and the country’s largest construction company, Fletcher Building. The NZX 50 Index rose 22.16 points, or 0.53 percent, to 4153.91 at 5pm. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, while 10 fell, leaving 14 unchanged. Turnover was $69.0 million in light early new year …

The New Zealand dollar nudged higher on Monday after falling late last week and a test of higher levels is in prospect this week if data is supportive. The kiwi was at 84.02 US cents at 5pm, up from 83.71 US cents at 8am but still down from 84.25 US cents at 5pm on Friday. The NZIER business confidence survey …

The price of internet connection to the rest of the world is dropping again as New Zealand’s only international cable owner, Southern Cross Cables, announces a 20 percent cut in its capacity prices. However, critics of the single carrier say it should be cutting its fees much harder to encourage the uptake of fast internet services which government policies have …